As the electronic sign-stealing investigation against the Astros nears its conclusion, another World Series-winning team is facing a similar query.

Major League Baseball has launched an investigation into the Boston Red Sox after a report by The Athletic described how the team illegally used the video replay room to steal signs during the 2018 regular season. Under first-year manager Alex Cora, a former Astros bench coach, Boston won a franchise-record 108 regular-season games and defeated Houston in a five-game ALCS en route to their ninth World Series title.

Though both cases involve studying a live feed of a game and relaying an opponent’s signs to players on the field, the allegations against the 2018 Red Sox are not identical to those made against the 2017 Astros.

The investigation into the Astros, one containing more than 76,000 reviewed emails and 60 witness interviews, appears to be nearing an end. Industry sentiment remains that a ruling and discipline will be levied before the team reports to spring training. ESPN reported Tuesday it is “likely” to come within the next two weeks.

The Astros allegedly used a center-field camera at Minute Maid Park to focus on an opposing catcher’s signs, studied it on a live feed and then had a coordinated system of banging on a trash can to signal what pitch was coming. Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers confirmed the existence of the system to The Athletic.

No named sources have corroborated the charges against the Red Sox. According to The Athletic — which cited “three people who were with the 2018 Red Sox” — Boston players visited the video replay room at Fenway Park during games to learn their opponents’ sign sequences. Replay staffs travel, too, so it stands to reason the Red Sox could have employed the tactics on the road.

The Red Sox, according to the report, were less demonstrative than the Astros in relaying their knowledge to those on the field. Often, it was first by foot and word of mouth in the dugout. Then, when the Red Sox had a baserunner, he could study the signs and relay that knowledge to a hitter by otherwise innocuous movements.

“Put two feet on the bag or look out into center field, and do something that’s subtle,” one Red Sox source described to The Athletic.

Both teams under investigation had one prominent on-field employee in common — Cora. Formerly Houston’s bench coach, Cora departed Astros manager A.J. Hinch’s coaching staff after the 2017 season to manage the Red Sox. At the winter meetings, Cora declined comment on the Astros’ allegations. He kept quiet Tuesday, too, declining comment to MassLive about the allegations.

“We were recently made aware of allegations suggesting the inappropriate use of our video replay room,” the Red Sox said in a statement Tuesday. “We take these allegations seriously and will fully cooperate with MLB as they investigate the matter.”

Though it is unclear whether the latest revelations against Cora and the Red Sox will affect the Astros’ investigation, it enhances the widespread notion that technologically aided malfeasance extends beyond one team. Boston, in fact, had already been penalized in 2017 for improperly using technology in the dugout and relaying the information to players.

In a Sept. 15, 2017, statement that levied discipline against the Red Sox, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred warned that “all 30 clubs have been notified that future violations of this type will be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks.”

In an effort to curb continued rumors and allegations of electronic sign stealing, the league instituted “video monitors” in every clubhouse beginning in the 2018 postseason. All game feeds in the clubhouse and other areas are on an eight-second delay, too.

These volunteers are expected to patrol the video replay room, clubhouse tunnel and other auxiliary areas on both the home and visiting sides. Whether their presence dissuades any thought of cheating is now debatable.

“We had (the monitors) in our back pocket,” one Red Sox source told The Athletic. “If we wanted to whisper something or they walked out, then we could do something if we needed to.”

In November, the Chronicle reported that video monitors at Minute Maid Park were specifically instructed to listen for banging coming from the Astros’ dugout. One video monitor who worked at another ballpark said they heard no such directive.

“This year, it was obvious in doing the investigation, we found out, we were just playing baseball,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said last weekend. “We got to the World Series and lost the last game. We weren’t able to accomplish our goal, but we won, what, 107 games. There was nothing going on, just straight up good players playing baseball.”

Chandler Rome joined the Houston Chronicle in 2018 to cover the Astros after spending one year in Tuscaloosa covering Alabama football — during which Nick Saban asked if he attended college. He did, at LSU, where he covered the Tigers baseball team for nearly four years. He covered most of the Astros' 2015 playoff run, too, as an intern for MLB.com

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